04 April 2015

Easter Baking

I've been baking! Baking is not something I do very often, firstly because I have so many food allergies that most yummy creations out there just aren't suitable for me, I know life sucks. Secondly there is the factor that anything yummy I bake, tends to end up being consumed by myself very quickly, I'm a sucker for sweet treats.

With it being Easter weekend I really fancied making some cute cupcakes to celebrate the occasion, I thought these would make a lovely addition to an Easter meal or just a little treat to have with your favourite cup of tea. I wanted to share with you my little baking creation and the recipe I used. I'm allergic to quite a few foods and have been since the age of 10, one of my biggest allergies and most annoying is my allergic to eggs, you wouldn't realise how many foods this is in! This does mean that I'm not allowed to have any of those lovely pretty cakes you buy in store, or those beautiful soft fluffy ones you can make yourselves. It did take a few attempts and a little trial and error, but I have found a very nice recipe for eggless cakes and they taste delicious. Even if you're not allergic, you should definitely try this recipe as I think you'll be surprised, the cakes are so yummy and fluffy which I never expected!

Because I'm a little bit of a chocolate addict I decided to add some chocolate chips into my cake mixture, this is totally optional but it does make them taste 100x yummier and they look cool when you chop one in half too.

The recipe I'm going to share with you will make 24 cupcakes in the size displayed above, or if you prefer, you can make one medium sized cake instead, it's totally up to you.

Ingredients - the cakes

280g self raising flour

400ml condensed milk

2tsp baking powder

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

2tsp vanilla extract

1 pack of chocolate chips

150ml milk

120ml melted butter

Ingredients - the buttercream

200g unsalted butter

400g icing sugar

100g milk chocolate

2tsp vanilla extract

milk to losen

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180degrees, I use a fan oven so ensure you convert this to suit your oven type.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl and mix together.

3. Add the condensed milk, vanilla extract, milk, melted butter and chocolate chips before mixing everything together until everything is consistent and well mixed, I used an electric whisk but it isn't essential.

4. Disperse the mixture evenly into your cake cases and pop them into the oven at 180degrees for 10 minutes then turn the oven down to 150degrees and cook for a further 10 minutes.

5. Once the cakes are cooked, remove them from the oven and place on a cooling rack for 30-60 minutes.

6. Melt your chocolate in a bowl over some boiling water, please ask an adult to help you if you're young. Once the chocolate is completely melted, pop it into the fridge to cool.

7. Now mix your butter and icing sugar together, being very careful as I made a huge mess at this point!

8. Once the chocolate is no longer warm to touch, gently fold this into your buttercream mixture and add the vanilla extract for flavour.

9. Ice your cakes as you desire, I used a piping bag and nozzle to create the effect I achieved, I then popped a couple of mini eggs on top for decoration.

I would love to see any recreations you may do of this recipe. Have you done any baking this Easter?